What's So Special About Alpaca Fiber?

Aside from having a wonderful handle, often so soft that you can wear right next to your skin, what’s so special about alpaca fiber? It’s extremely warm, is the strongest mammal fiber, light weight, and very water resistant. It has other qualities, as well.

Alpaca is known to be extremely warm. Why? One reason is that alpaca has some medullated fibers: in other words, there are tiny hollow pockets in the centers of many individual alpaca fibers. These areas hold the warmth.

In addition, Yocum-McCall found alpaca fiber to be extremely strong. The average tensile (pull) strength of alpaca is 50 N/ktex; 30 N/ktex is considered adequate to run on modern mill machinery. Other sources say alpaca is the strongest mammal fiber. One historian wrote that the Incans braided alpaca/llama fiber with reeds or cotton to make bridges spanning canyons in the Peruvian Andes. Tensile strength makes for strong yarn and a garment that will wear well.

Note that abrasion resistance of alpaca is about the same as that of other mammal fibers. As reported to The Alpaca Fiber Symposium in June 2010 alpaca had a score of 15,000 cycles of abrasion. This meets upholstery standards.

Yocum McColl also showed that alpaca fiber has low resistance to compression and is thus not well suited to uses requiring resistance to compression or high bulk unless blended with fiber that has excellent compression resistance.

People have long observed that alpaca is very water resistant. Gaston College’s representative told the Alpaca Fiber Symposium that their tests showed alpaca to be virtually water repellent. They found it all but impossible to saturate alpaca fiber to do the test. (Sheep’s wool absorbs up to 35% of its weight in water.)

Reported to the Alpaca Fiber Symposium in June 2010 is the fact that alpaca wicks moisture away from the body in knitted and woven (but not felted) fabric. This wicking characteristic is important in socks for diabetics. The many fans of alpaca socks tell us that the socks are very warm and that their feet don’t feel sweaty while wearing them. Thus, while wearing alpaca socks, one’s feet remain comfortable in cold, damp conditions.

In the mid-nineteenth century these water resistant qualities made W & J Sangster Alpaca umbrellas the best umbrellas to be had in rainy England. They were considered much more desirable than the cheaper silk variety! Other common uses for alpaca around 1900 were ladies' dresses, gentlemen's suits, military and police and academic robes.

Testing reported to The Alpaca Fiber Symposium in Virginia in June, 2010, showed that moisture regain of alpaca and cotton is 8%, silk 9% and wool is 16%. The fact that alpaca has half the moisture retention as wool may be why alpaca is felt to be more comfortable and breathable by wearers.

Alpaca does not contain lanolin, making it possible to process without the kind of scouring that sheep’s wool requires. It is also a reason alpaca can have an 87-95% clean fiber yield whereas sheep tend to have a 43–76% clean fiber yield.

Alpaca tends to be low allergenic. Many people who cannot wear wool, report that they can wear alpaca with no allergic reaction. In some people this may be because there is no lanolin or lanolin residue in an alpaca garment.

Alpaca is reported to resist odors better than other fibers, even in socks.

Alpaca tends to have a somewhat lower prickle factor than sheep’s wool of the same micron. (The diameter of each fiber is measured in microns.) This is because the individual scales on the shafts of alpaca fibers are smoother and lower than those on the fibers of other mammals. (Scale height on huacaya alpacas is 0.4 microns; that of sheep is 0.8. Suri alpacas’ scale height is much lower than the 0.4 of huacayas.) This means that the handle of alpaca feels about 3-5 microns less than that of wool of the same micron. This gives a luxurious feel when you stroke alpaca.

There are two types of alpacas, huacayas and suris. Huacayas have crimpy, bundled fiber and a fluffy look when in full fleece. Suri fleece falls in long, lustrous locks or ringlets which move freely as the animal walks. As noted above, the microscope shows that the height of the scale on suri fiber is lower than that of huacaya. The higher scale on a huacaya fiber also has a steeper edge angle than that of a suri scale. This gives suri fiber a slicker, softer hand than huacaya.

Both kinds of alpaca can be processed in both worsted and woolen methods and both can be woven, knitted, crocheted and felted. Crimpy huacaya makes fabulous, lofty yarn for knitted and crocheted applications. The more rare suri is ideal for sensuous, drapable, incredibly luxurious woven fabrics. Both can be felted, though the nature of the scale structure generally makes felting suri a longer process than felting huacaya.

The structure of the scales on alpaca fiber is also a reason that garments made from alpaca have good pill resistance. A test sponsored by Peter Lundberg of the Alpaca Blanket Project showed alpaca scored 3 on a pill resistance test. (No Pill = 5; excessive pill = 1) Three is considered good pill resistance in woven goods.

The scales on alpaca fiber are longer than those on sheep’s wool. Light reflects off the scales. This results in the shine or glow alpaca fiber is famous for; the longer the scale (suri is longer than huacaya), the more it reflects light.

Alpaca is a Class I Fiber regarding flame resistance-more flame resistant than plant or synthetic fibers. It is marginally flame retardant which means it will self extinguish. It does not melt onto the skin like synthetics do. These characteristics suggest it has potential for use in blankets, insulation, mattress stuffing and industrial uses for firefighters or in the military.

Some textile experts say alpaca is more resilient and wrinkle resistant than cashmere. They also suggest that it has a lower tendency to shrink than wool and cashmere.

People report buying an alpaca sweater 30 or 40 years ago and still wearing it or say that it has been passed down through the generations and is still worn! They say their sweaters still look new after years of wear. Alpaca does retain its fiber characteristics, including softness, brightness and luster, for decades. (Camelid textiles found in 2500 year old Peruvian ruins are often in surprisingly good condition!)

Helen Hamann, a fashion designer and alpaca fiber expert who is knowledgeable about Incan culture and Peruvian history, tells us that an Incan man’s wealth was counted in textiles made from alpaca fiber. While we can’t pay for goods and services in alpaca fiber, we can make and sell hats, gloves, sweaters, scarves, pillows, blankets, rugs, bags, puppets, pin cushions, wall hangings and a myriad of other products from this fabulous fiber!

Alpaca comes in 22 gorgeous natural colors ranging from white to true black and including delicate beiges, vicuna-like fawns, luscious rich browns and a full range of grays. No other fiber animal produces so many colors. Alpaca is the only fiber animal that grows true black fleece. Thus, no dye is required to produce alpaca yarn in this large range of earth colors, making it particularly eco-friendly. Yet, when other colors are desired, alpaca accepts dye beautifully.

Alpaca is a versatile, warm, strong, water resistant fiber which is produced on gentle, hardy animals. As a bonus, this wonderful fiber grows on the backs of ‘green’ animals. Eco- friendly alpacas are easy keepers who are light on the land, making them ideal fiber animals to raise, even on small acreage.

Barbara ZiekWild Hair Alpacas

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